Safety rail for bathtubs



J1me 1950 J. J. HUSSEY SAFETY RAIL FOR BATHTUBS Filed Nov. 28, 1958 INVENTOR JOHN J. HUSSEY ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofice 2,940,085 Patented June 14, 1960 SAFETY RAIL FOR BATHTUBS John J. Hussey, Hudson, Mass. Frohock-Stewart Co., Harris Court, Worcester, Mass.)

Filed Nov. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 777,027

1 Claim. (Cl. 4-185') This invention relates to a new and improved safety rail device for bathtubs for aiding bathers to get into and out of the tub, providing a hand-hold at the rim of the tub for this purpose.

One of the principal objects of the invention resides in the provision of a safety rail as described which is detachable and adjustable along the rim of the tub and may be positioned where desired, including adjustable clamping means accommodating difierent widths of tub sides; and the provision of a novel relationship of the attaching or clamping means, the rail itself, and means for contacting the top of the rim of the tub for accurately positioning the rail where desired.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a pair of adjustable U-shaped brackets which are positioned on the tub rim in inverted relationship with respect thereto and including adjustable clamping means therefor, in combination with an inverted hand-rail of U shape having each free end thereof individually and detachably secured to the closed end of one of the U- shaped brackets; and the provision of a special new and improved tub clamping means on the arms of the inverted U-shaped brackets.

The invention further relates to arrangements and cornbinaticns of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the invention in use;

Pig. 2 is a view on enlarged direction of arrow 2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is. a view in side elevation of the structure looking in the direction of arrow 3 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

In carrying out the present invention, the same is clearly shown in Fig. 1 as applied to the rim of a bathtub. It will be seen that the device comprises in general an inverted U-shaped tubular member generally indicated at 10. This hand-rail has a pair of down-turned relatively short free-ended arms 12, 14 between which extends the horizontal hand-grip. The lower ends of the arms are provided with fixed plugs or the like 16. These are threaded to receive fasteners 13 having heads 29 by which means the device is adapted to be attached to the inverted U-shaped holding brackets which are just alike and to which the reference numerals have been applied in like manner. These brackets are generally indicated by the reference numeral 22.

Each bracket 22 comprises a free-ended arm 24 and a free-ended arm 26, these being generally co-terminous at their free ends. These arms are preferably provided with cushioning means 28 for contacting the sides of the tub. Arms 24 and 26 are generally alike at the lower portions thereof which are adapted to clamp to the sides of the tub but at their upper ends they are formed differently.

Am 24 is provided with an elongated lateral extension scale, looking in the 30 which is turned down in a continuation thereof at 32 extending reversely into an elongated member 34 parallel to and spaced from the extension 30 and being provided with padding means 36 similar to that at 23.

The arm 26 is provided with a laterally extending elongated extension 38 which overlies the extension 30 and is adjustably associated with respect thereto as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. This is accomplished by means of a slot 40 which appears in' extension 39 and the fastener 18 passes through this slot, the head of the fastener at 20 being exposed at the lower side of extension 30 so that the user is enabled to clamp the same, thus clamping the hand-rail itself and the two extensions 30 and 38 with respect to each other in adjusted relation.

In order to clamp the arms 24 and 26 together with respect to the side wall of the bathtub, there is provided another fastener 42, this fastener being substantially elongated and having a head for instance at 44. This fastener passes through an aperture at the upper end of the arm 26 and through a corresponding aperture in the downturned portion 32 of extension 30. The fastener 42 may be threaded with respect to the aperture in the downturned portion 32; but on the other hand, a nut 46 may also be used in order to clamp these members together in clamping relationship to the sides of the tub.

It will be seen that this invention provides a relatively simple but very rugged adjustable, horizontal hand-rail for safetys sake and for convenience in getting into and out of the usual bathtub, which as well known is apt to be very slipper, especially when wet.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but What I claim is:

A safety rail device for bathtubs comprising a pair of generally U-shaped brackets for spaced disposition on the rim of a bathtub in inverted relation and a rod-like hand-grip located and supported on said brackets, said hand-grip including a pair of spaced free ends to which the brackets are attached, means to detachably connect the hand-grip at each end to the closed portion of one of the brackets, each bracket including a pair of spaced free-ended arms, each bracket comprising a pair of members one of which includes one arm and a right-angle extension, and the other includes the other arm and a right-angle extension, said extensions overlapping between the arms in each pair to form the closed end of the respective U-shaped bracket, said extensions being parallel and relatively longitudinally adjustable, one extension underlying the other, the underlying extension continuing at its end in a downward direction and thence in a reverse direction, forming a member spaced and parallel relative to the underlying extension to contact the top of the rim of the bathtub, and means to clamp the arms of each bracket to the sides of the tub, said clamping means comprising a fastener passing through the firstnarned arm and the downward portion of the secondnamed arm, and means between the underlying extension and the spaced parallel member to cooperate with the fastener and adiustably secure the arms to the wall of the bathtub.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,061,328 Sandberg May 13, 1913 1,543,393 Knott June 23, 1925 2,678,791 McPhaden May 18, 1954 2,807,029 Armstrong Sept. 24, 1957 

